Prevention of mother to child Hiv transmission - Essay Example

Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission Quantitative research is relevant to nursing because it offers hard evidence that nurses can apply in their practice to provide better and improved health care to patients. Unlike the ancient forms of health care practice, contemporary nursing demands the use of hard evidence in preventing, managing, and treating modern illnesses such as HIV, Malaria, and Typhoid. Besides, nurses are expected to abide by the principles of nursing, which include autonomy, beneficence, justice, fidelity, veracity, non-maleficence, and confidentiality (Hunt 2012, p. 8). Quantitative research enables researchers in health and social care to provide practical recommendations that can benefit patients and the society. For example, research ethics in quantitative research can help in the prevention of mother to child HIV transmission (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson 2009, pp. 135-140). Accordingly, this paper reflects critically upon how quantitative research provides a valuable contribution to the development of evidence-based health and social care. Quantitative research is the methodical scientific assessment of observable phenomena through computational, mathematical, or statistical methods. For example, the observable phenomena in health and social care may include HIV prevalence in expectant mothers, rate of mother to child HIV transmission, and infant deaths resulting from mother to child HIV transmission. Quantitative uses a systematic approach through actual data collection and analysis rather than making assumptions on describable phenomena. The purpose of the quantitative approach is to develop hypothesis about the observable phenomena. The research technique goes a long way in testing the hypotheses or theories so developed in order to ascertain their veracity or otherwise. In social and nursing care, scholars may use quantitative research to develop hypotheses around mother to child HIV transmission. The testing and proof of such hypothesis can bring significant benefit to the nursing fraternity (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson 2009, pp. 135-140). Health and social care demands evidence-based practice, which quantitative research provides in hard data. In essence, evidence-based practice (EBP) or Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the point at which the patient values & preferences, best research evidence, and clinical expertise converge. Evidence-based practice (EBP) involves the prudent utilization of the most reliable contemporary evidence in making critical decisions about the health of patients. In the topic of prevention of mother to child HIV transmission, evidence-based practice (EBP) dictates that nurses should embrace research ethics in addition to the principles of nursing. Evidence-based practice (EBP) can thrive only when enough, reliable, and current evidence exists about a particular phenomenon like mother to child HIV transmission. In relation to this, evidence-based nursing depends on how well researchers conduct their study using quantitative techniques, and of course, incorporating research ethics (Hunt 2012, p. 8). Quantitative research involves a systematic approach that applies to nursing because some of the phenomena in health and social care demand the use of discrete data. Quantitative data comprises of empirical techniques that include five major aspects. The first scientific method in quantitative design is the formulation of hypotheses around a certain phenomenon like HIV transmission (Siddiqui & Fitzgerald 2014, pp. 137-147). The hypotheses are usually two in number namely the null and the alternative hypothesis. The second step in quantitative hypotheses is the designing of the instruments that the researchers will use to measure the observable phenomenon. Quantitative research involves the control and management of the environment in order to manipulate the relevant variables for data collection. The variables here may include HIV infection in infants. For quantitative research to be conclusive, the researcher must collect and analyse data using scientific methods upon which he/she will derive suitable recommendations (Keele 2011, pp. 30-40). Quantitative research is important, especially in social and health care where ethics, accuracy, and reliability are critical issues. Compared to qualitative research, quantitative research is more objective and reliable. It is so because the researcher uses the object rather than the subject in their approach to the study. Besides, the researcher exhibits negligible subjectivity in the research methodology, which is an essential component of an empirical study. This objectivity approach makes the data collected and analysed to be more dependable by the nurses and health care practitioners (Gerrish & Lacey 2010, pp. 134-138). One of the most important advantages of quantitative research is that the researcher is at liberty to generalize the results using the available statistics. It is almost impossible to generalize outcomes in the qualitative approach. In quantitative studies, the correlation between variables can reveal the cause and effect, particularly in controlled experiments. Unlike other approaches, the quantitative approach to study works from the most complex to the simplest variables, which makes the study easier for the researcher to synthesize. All these advantages apply to the development of evidence-based health and social care (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson 2009, pp. 135-140). The primary data collection methods in quantitative research enhance research ethics in nursing research, which in turn promotes social and health care. Mother to child HIV transmission is a heavy subject that attracts significant stigma to the participants in research. Accordingly, the key data collection methods in quantitative studies involve the collection of both primary and secondary data to presence enough evidence for practice in nursing care. Personal interview is the most common technique of data collection in the quantitative study. It involves the researchers asking questions directly to the participants, who include the expectant mothers living with HIV, and the nurses attending to the pregnant. Researchers may opt to collect data through personal observation of the participants and the phenomenon under investigation. In some situations, questionnaires may become necessary, especially in circumstances that require anonymity from the research participants. The researchers need to be cautious with the information they receive not to contravene research ethics and the principles of nursing (Dombrowski, Snelling, & Kalicki 2014, pp. 342-349). The data collection methods should, however, promote the principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice, fidelity, veracity, non-maleficence, and confidentiality. Quantitative research methods promote the principles of nursing because the researchers involved are bound to the research ethics. The principles of nursing apply to the quantitative technique right from the hypothesis formulation to the recommendation stage. The evidence so collected and represented in quantitative studies is comprehensive though meticulous in content. For example, the principle of justice demands researchers to be fair in their research, interview, and questionnaire questions. They ought to provide equal opportunities to all participants and uphold high integrity in accordance to the fidelity principle. The principle of beneficence demands that all quantitative research in social and health care should serve the interests of the patients and not those of the researchers. In addition, the researcher should not exhibit authority in his/her approach to the participants because the participants have the autonomy to respond or decline to respond (Tappen 2011, pp. 36-40). Quantitative research provides stronger evidence than qualitative study, specifically when it comes to health and social care where the observable phenomena are static. Social and health care research should be based on hard evidence rather than generalizations. Nursing practice operates by principles and codes of ethics that all nurses must observe. Through quantitative studies, nurses can be rest assured that they recommendations that they are applying have been proven beyond reproach (Keele 2011, pp. 30-40). The HIV pandemic is so severe in some regions of the world that the victims usually experience victimization. In this regard, quantitative research contributes towards the prevention and management of the disease by using scientific data. Through deductive reasoning, quantitative research offers nurses an opportunity to select the best recommendation to take. Besides, quantitative research measures observable phenomena as opposed to describable phenomena used in qualitative research. In this sense, quantitative data provides hard evidence for decision-making by nurses in health and social care (Dombrowski, Snelling, & Kalicki 2014, pp. 342-349). The significance of making decisions based on quantitative research evidence cannot be overstated, considering the gravity of some social and health care cases. HIV patients and expectant women depend on nurses to deliver their babies without transmitting the virus to the new-borns. Nurses can prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child only by infusing the latest evidence-based technology. Quantitative research contributes a significant chunk of evidence in the nursing practice. However, the health care environment, the personality of the nurse, and the codes & principles of nursing considerably affect the use of evidence in social and health care. Indeed, the evidence-based practice that results from quantitative research ensures that the nursing practice is efficient, effective, and safe for expectant women living with HIV. Making nursing decisions based on uninformed evidence may lead to the transmission of HIV from mother to child, which is not only unethical on the part of the nurse, nut it is also risky for the patients (Tappen 2011, pp. 36-40). In conclusion quantitative research contributes appreciably to the evidence-based practice in social and nursing care, especially in the modern health care environment. Technological advancements have made modern the provision of modern health and care safe. However, strong proofs are required for the nursing profession in order to avoid ethical issues. The subject of HIV prevention, especially the transmission from mother to child, is emotive in the same sense as it attracts stigma. Quantitative research is objective, tests hypotheses, and provides hard evidence that nurses can use to make decisions. Accordingly nurses can uphold the nursing principles such as autonomy, beneficence, justice, fidelity, veracity, non-maleficence, and confidentiality. Besides, the deductive reasoning used in quantitative research makes data synthesis a lot easier (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson 2009, pp. 135-140). Reference List Daly, J, Speedy, S, & Jackson, D 2009, Contexts of nursing: an introduction, Chatswood, N.S.W., Elsevier Australia. Dombrowski, J J, Snelling, A M & Kalicki, M 2014, ‘Health Promotion Overview: Evidence-Based Strategies for Occupational Health Nursing Practice,’ Workplace Health & Safety, vol. 62, no. 8, pp. 342-9; quiz 350. Gerrish, K, & Lacey, A 2010, The research process in nursing, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. Hunt, J, 2012. ‘Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice,’ Nursing management, vol. 19, no. 7, p. 8. Keele, R 2011, Nursing research and evidence-based practice: ten steps to success, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Siddiqui, N & Fitzgerald, J A 2014, ‘Elaborated integration of qualitative and quantitative perspectives in mixed methods research: A profound enquiry into the nursing practice environment,’ International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 137-147. Tappen, R M 2011, Advanced nursing research: from theory to practice, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Read More